Reversible rotary engine



. Patenied lun 20, I899. w. e. FLORENCE & A. B. TBEMBLEY.

REVERSIBLE ROTARY ENGINE.

(Application filed Juna423,1898.)'

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mo Model.)

No. 627,332. Patented June 20, I899. W. G. FLORENCE & A. B. TREMBLEY.

REVERSIBLE ROTARY ENGINE.

(Application filed June 23, 1898.)

It Fi 5.

No. 627,332. Patented June 20, I899. W. G. FLORENCE & A. B. TREMBL EY.

REVERSIBLE ROTARY ENGINE.

(Application filed June 23, 1898.) (No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

WILLIAM G. FLORENCE AND ARTHUR B. TREMBLEY, OF NEWARK, NEWV JERSEY.

REVERSIBLE RoTA v ENGINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 627,332, dated June 20, 1899. Application filed June 23,1898. Serial No. 684,298. (No model.)

To all whom it nutyconccrn:

Be it known that we, WILLIAM G. FLOR- ENCE and ARTHUR B. TREMBLEY, citizens of the United States, residing at Newark, county of Essex, State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Re-I I versible Rotary Engines, fully described and represented in the following specification and the accompanying drawings, forminga part of the same.

The present invention relates to that class of rotary engines in which a drum provided with pockets in its periphery is .mounted within a cylinder having tangential .or in-' clined jets; and the object of the present in- 1 vention is to improve the means of packing the sidesand periphery of the drum, and especially to furnish a construction adapted to readily and efficiently reverse the rotations of the drum-shaft. To effect such reversal, the cylinder is formed with two sets of ports inclined in opposite directions and arranged alternately and connected with suitable pipes to use at pleasure for either steam or exhaust. The drum is provided with 'a series oftrans- Verse cylindrical pockets having segmental blocks adjustable therein at opposite inclinations, so that the pockets may be made the deepest upon the forward side, in whichever direction the steam-jets are operated. To facilitate the reversal of the engine when in motion, a spindle is inserted through the drum-shaft and connected by a cog-wheel with the *segmental blocks, so as to tip the blocks in the required direction without stopping the engine. The engine may thus be used for hoisting and driving steamboat-pro pellers and for other purposes where frequent and quick reversal is required.

The invention will be understood by reference to the annexed drawings, in which- Figure 1 is an end elevation of the engine.

Fig. 2 is an inside view of one of the packingrings. Fig. 3 is a cross-section ofthe engine.

Fig. 4: is an end View of one of thesegmental blocks, and Fig. 5 a side view of the same. Fig. 6 isa longitudinal vertical section of the engine, and Fig. 7 is a plan of the drumshaft and the adjustable gear removed from the interior of the drum. Fig. 8 is an end elevation of the standard, with the latch l-I;

fo pivoted therein upon pivots c gether by bolts 6.

adesignates the body of the drum, havingin its periphery pockets b,which are formed in cylindrical spaces, having the segmental blocks The outer ends of the drum are continuous, and in order to introduce the segmental blocks into the cylindrical pockets the drum is divided at the middle line a. and the halves secured to- The drum is formed internally at the center with a cylindrical chamber a ,and the drum-shaft is divided into two parts A A, which are provided at their inner ends with-flanges I, secured Within such chamber. j

The shell of the cylinder d is formed with by cross bars g, and concentric packingblocks fare fitted to the recesses and to that part of the periphery of the drum which forms joint ridges 6 between the cylindrical pockets.

. a series of concentric recesses f, separated The packing-blocks are adjusted by setscrews F and retained in position by bolts F. Ports p and p, inclined in reverse directions, are formed in each of the blocks and its adjacent cross-bar, and pipes Sand E are connected with such ports and extended outwardly through the shell of the cylinder d. The pipes in the blocks f pass loosely through the shell, and their joint upon its exterior is closed by a suitable packing beneath a nut n. The pipes Sare joined to a common supply-pipe S and the pipes E to a common pipe E,- and in practice suitable valves are supplied to deliver steam into either of the pipes S or E at pleasure.

When the steam is turned into the pipes S and ports 19, the blocks a in the pockets are inclined forwardly, as shown in Fig. 1, and the jet of steam entering each port then impinges against the sharp corner of the deeper side of the pocket. The packing-blocks f are made about twice the length of the pocket, so as to cover the adjacent joint-ridge c, and the port 19 opens at the middle of its length. The distance between the ports p and p is greater than the width of the pocket, so that when steam is supplied to the port 19 the joint-ridge e effectively closes such steamport as the pocket moves past the same before the front edge of the pocket reaches the succeeding port 19, which operates to exhaust in Fig. 3.

the contents of the pocket. When the steam is supplied to the ports 19 and the ports 1) are used for exhaust, the same effect is produced by the rotation in the opposite direction; but the blocks 0 are then tipped to a reverse position to that shown in Fig. 1 by gearing located within the center of the drum. To operate such gearing, an arbor D is extended through the drum-shaft and the chamber 0. within which it is provided with a toothed wheel 0, and each of the segmental blocks 0 is provided with a toothed arm 25, which is extended through a slot 15 into the chamber to mesh with such wheel. The arbor D projects beyond the end of the shaft A, and a hand-wheel D is attached to the outer end of the arbor to turn the toothed wheel slightly to oscillate the segments 0 when their reversal is required. The slots t regulate the movements of the arms and the inclinations of the segmental blocks in the pockets 1). The in ner end of the arbor is fitted movably in a socket s in the shaft A, and the opposite sides of the toothed wheel 0 are provided with pins 0, adapted to fit recesses s in the faces of the flanges I when the wheel is turned in opposite positions in adjusting the blocks 0. One of the pins 0 is'shown in Fig. 7 in one of the recesses s in the adjacent flange I, thus locking the wheel 0 and all of the segmental blocks in the position shown upon the shaft A, indicating the direction of rotation when the blocks a are thus adjusted, and the shifting of the hand-wheel endwise, with the wheel C in an intermediate position, as shown in Fig. 6, permits the retarding of the hand-wheel by a slight pressure, so as to shift the wheel 0 and throw the blocks 0 in an opposite position to prepare the drum'for reversal, which is then effected by turning the steam into such opposite ports. The hand-wheel is then pushed endwise, so that the opposite pin 0' may engage the correspondin g hole 3, which is arranged, as shown in Fig. 7, to coincide with the pin when the wheel (J is thus oscillated. The cylinder is bolted by a foot-piece to a bed-plate G, upon which standards G are mounted, with bearings to carry the shafts A and A, the outer end of which may project outside such bearings to any suitable distance, as shown at the outer end of the shaft A, to apply a drivingwheel'. The arbor D is provided with a collar a near the hand-wheel D, and a latch H v is pivoted upon the standard G, as shown in Fig. 8, to fit upon the shaft at either side of the collar when the toothed wheel 0 is clutched, respectively, to each of the flanges I. The latch is lifted when it is necessary to shift the toothed wheel by moving the handwheel D, and the dropping of the latch by the side of the collar then indicates to the operator that the toothed wheel has been fully shifted and clutched to the adjacent flange. The cylinder at is formed with eccentric body or flange, and the heads (1 are fitted steamtight to the outer margin of such body, with flanges projected beyond the edge of the cylinder to receive bolts h for securing the heads 01. Each head is formed between its inner side and the end of the cylinder with a space balls 4" are let into the recesses 01* and furnished with set-screws d to adjust them,and

similar rings are sunk in the faces of the packing-rings 8 Internal gear-teeth s are formed within a central opening in each of the rings 3 and a pinion a iskeyed upon each of the shafts A and A to mesh with such teeth. Such pinions drive the rings at about one-half the velocity of the drum a, and as the packing-ring moves eccentrically over the parts against which it is fitted it is obvious that itis constantly changing its wearing contact with such parts, and thus maintains a perfect joint therewith. An arrow at is shown in Fig. 7 7

Seven of the pockets b are shown upon the drum and five of the blocksf, containing the inlet-port p, and such ports do not, therefore, operate simultaneously upon the pockets, but successively as the drum rotates, so as to maintain a continuous effect upon the revolving shaft A A.

The packing-blocks fare long enough between the portp and the end of the block to cover the pocket in whichever direction it revolves, and as the pocket reaches the exhaustport- 19 immediately afterward it will be un derstood that the steam is retained in the pocket until it reaches such exhaust-port. As the portp is at the middle of the packingblock f, the same effect is produced in whichever direction the drum revolves; but it is intended that the port in the packing-block shall be used as a steam-inlet where the engine is continuously or chiefly rotated in one direction.

Having thus set forth the nature of the 111-- which is eccentric to the bore of the cylinder,

IIC

drum-shaft therein, of the cylinder (1 having series of inlet and outlet ports arranged alternately and inclined in opposite directions, a drum having a series of transverse cylindrical pockets with segmental blocks rotatable therein, and means operating through the drum-shaft for adjusting the blocks in opposite positions, substantially as herein set forth.

3. In a reversible rotary engine, the combination, with heads d having bearings with drum-shaft therein, of the cylinder 61 having series of inlet and outlet ports arranged alternately and inclined in opposite directions, of a drum having a series of peripheral pockets less in number than the series of inletports with bottoms adjustable at opposite inclinations, and the steam-jets thus operating successively upon the various pockets and maintaining a uniform action therein, substantially as herein set forth.

4:. In a rotary engine, the combination,with a drum-shaft, of a drum having a series of j oint-ridges c with intermediate pockets having inclined bottoms, heads supporting a drum-shaft, and a cylinder having a series of recesses with intervening cross-bars g, having inclined ports, packing-blocks fitted to such recesses and to the ridges upon the cylinder with screws to adjust such blocks, each block being adapted to cover one of the pockets and the adjacent ridges, and having an inclined port With a pipe projecting therefrom through the shell of the cylinder, as and for the purpose set forth.

5. In a rotary engine, the combination, with a drum-shaft, of a drum having a series of j oint-ridges c with intermediate pockets having inclinedbottoms, a cylinder having a series of recesses with intervening cross-bars g having inclined ports, packing-blocks fitted to such recesses and to the ridges upon the drum with screws to adjust such blocks, each block having an inclined port with pipe extended outwardly therefrom, a head fitted to each end of the cylinder and drum-shaft and having an eccentric raceway with balls therein, and a packing-ring pressed by such balls against the end of the drum and cylinder,

and against the packing-blocks in the same, substantially as herein set forth.

6. In a rotary engine, the combination, with a drum-shaft, of a drum having a series of joint-rid ges 6, with intermediate pockets having inclined bottoms, a cylinder havinga series of recesses with intervening cross-bars 9' having inclined ports, packing-blocks fitted tosuch recesses and to the ridges upon the drumwith screws to adjust such blocks, each block having an inclined port with pipe ex tended outwardly therefrom, a head fitted to each end of the cylinder and drum-shaft and having an eccentric raceway with balls therein, a packing-ring fitted against the end of the drum and cylinder, and against the packing-blocks in the same, aset of balls guided a drum-shaft, of a drum having a series of concentric joint ridges with intermediate pockets having inclined bottoms, a cylinder having a series of recesses with intervening cross-bars g having inclined ports, packingblocks fitted to such recesses and to the ridges upon the drum, with screws to adjust such blocks, each block having an inclined port with pipe extended outwardly therefrom, a head fitted to each end of the cylinder and drum-shaft and having an eccentric raceway with balls therein, a packing-ring pressed by such balls against the end of the drum and cylinder, and against the packing-blocks in the same, teeth inside the ring and a pinion upon the drum-shaft to rotate the ring eccentrically to the drum, as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto set our hands in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

\Vitnesses:

JOHN G. CORY, THOMAS S. CRANE. 

